The overall Merseyside Woman of the Year 2025 was revealed as Stephanie Barney, 23, CEO & Co-Founder of rapidly expanding social enterprise, Girls On The Go (GOTG) – the youngest ever winner of the top accolade in the awards’ history.
Driven by her own experiences with isolation, Stephanie co-founded GOTG to create the safe, supportive communities she wished she’d had. Under her leadership, GOTG has grown organically across Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, fostering over 10,000 friendships through hundreds of accessible wellness and social events and raising over £65,000 for women’s and children’s charities.
The ‘Woman of the Year’ award was presented to Stephanie by headline sponsors, FPC, at a glittering ceremony at the Crowne Plaza in Liverpool City Centre on Friday (27th June 2025) – the 15th birthday edition of the prestigious awards.
Receiving the award Stephanie said: “Winning this award is one of the biggest honours of my life, it’s absolutely amazing and I am so proud of myself and my co-founders Caitlin and Martin.
“I also think my younger self would be really, really proud of me right now. What we’ve created with Girls On The Go (GOTG) is what she needed when she was feeling really isolated. Winning Merseyside Woman of the Year will allow us to grow GOTG, make sure no one ever feels as lonely as I did and help as many women as we can.
“I also want to congratulate the other winners and finalists, who are all doing incredible things to help and support women. It’s an honour to share this stage with you all.”
MWOTY Founding Director, Ellie Kerr, said: “What Stephanie has built in such a short time and at such a young age is nothing short of remarkable, not only has she built a safe, inclusive and diverse community women and girls, that is actively tackling the issue of loneliness and isolation, she has made it financially sustainable, with delivering social impact at the heart of all that it does.
“She is demonstrating how social activism and business leadership can go hand in hand, and how we can make an enormous difference through collaboration and co-working. Girls On The Go is only at the start of its journey, and it has enormous potential, we’re so excited to see – and support – what comes next.
“I would like to congratulate Stephanie, and all of our category winners and runners-up, the energy, passion, expertise and commitment to making change in our 2025 alumni group is incredible. I am proud to welcome them to the MWOTY Movement, and I look forward to seeing what magic we can all create together over the next year, and beyond!”
Ten winners were revealed at this year’s MWOTY awards and celebrated across a range of categories for supporting and improving the lives of people in Merseyside and beyond, through business leadership, voluntary work, activism, charitable organisations and entrepreneurial and creative endeavours.
The 15th birthday event also marked Pauline Daniels’ final year presenting the awards, with the renowned comedienne, singer and actress retiring from her longstanding role as MWOTY commère, who was celebrated by MWOTY founding director, Ellie, during the event.
Throughout the afternoon, attendees heard from guest speaker, Nicola Carragher, who is currently completing a challenge to run all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors consecutively within 12 months, to raise as much money as possible for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Guests were entertained by Liverpool-based singer-songwriter, Emilie Culshaw, and The Liverpool Signing Choir, whose creator, Catherine Hegarty was overall “Woman of the Year” in 2010, and there was delicious food and drink and a silent auction and fundraising for the Community Foundation for Merseyside’s Women’s Fund and the MWOTY Legacy Fund.
Full information on all winners and runners-up can be found here: www.merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk/alumni/
Moira O’Shaughnessy, Managing Partner at FPC said: “As a proud mother of two daughters, now aged 28 and 31, I am especially delighted to celebrate Stephanie Barney’s remarkable success. Both my daughters left home at 18 and have since lived, studied, and worked away, so I understand first-hand the challenges young women face when forging new paths in unfamiliar places – building friendships, navigating careers, and establishing themselves in new communities.
“MWOTY is for women of all ages and backgrounds, and a winner like Stephanie will undoubtedly help broaden the reach of the movement, making it more inclusive and accessible to young women who are seeking inspiration, mentoring, and connection.
“FPC is honoured to support Stephanie as she embraces everything that comes with being part of the MWOTY community. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners – thanks to their energy, impact, and passion, MWOTY continues to go from strength to strength. We look forward to continuing our support for Ellie and the team in the months and years ahead.”
The Merseyside Women of the Year Awards will return in 2026, on Friday 26th June, with 2026 nominations set to open in January.
To find out more, visit: https://merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk
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